The I.B.M. Blog & Articles

The April 2015 issue of The Linking Ring inaugurates Spring in a big way, packed with magic and magicians from cover to cover in its one hundred and sixty-four pages.

Editor Sammy Smith has a nice column about people who find their life’s work -- a labor of love. International President Shawn Farquhar proves that “It’s a small world” by giving us updates on his travels on behalf of the I.B.M., from Russia, Hungary, Austria, and Bulgaria. Talk about frequent flyer miles!

One of the best things about the cover story each month -- as well as other personal profiles from time to time -- is getting to know a little better, the people whose names we see all the time. Such is the case with this month’s cover story on Mike Powers. Month after month he brings us great magic in his column “The Card Corner.”, but how did he get to be in that position? Read all about him and his career. He also brings us nine effects in his One-Man Parade. Then he turns around and brings us “Switch on Dingle” in his monthly column. Take a breather Mike. You deserve it.

“Do the Spirits Return?” is the title of an article by Dr. Steven Schlanger telling us about the new extensive Thurston exhibit at the Brooklyn Morbid Anatomy Museum for the next nine months. He also has an article in the issue entitled “True to Form: The Fellowship of Rotarian Magicians.”

Besides the several house ads telling us about the upcoming I.B.M. Convention in July, Simone Marron tells us about the Six-pack Lectures during the convention. Roger Miller is this month’s spotlight I.B.M. member with a “Commitment and Passion.” He is a past I.B.M. International President. Also highlighted this issue is Bruce Walstad, the Territorial Vice President of Alabama.

Assistant Editor Dennis Schick took advantage of his I.B.M. membership and visited the Ask Alexander Website for free. He got wrapped up in the Victorian Popular Culture site, and time-traveled back to the Nineteenth Century, and tells us about it.

Associate Editor Jason Goldberg attended the Yankee Gathering last November in Massachusetts, and tells us about it in “The Fascinations of Magic History.” Thanks for being our eyes and ears Jason. You make us want to go sometime.

Scott Hood focuses on families in his “The Therapy of Magic” column. And Skip Way’s column, “Polishing the Rings” is entitled “Invisible Riches,” referring to all the wealth of knowledge embedded in older magicians, which often is ignored by today’s young magicians. Bev Bergeron uses his “Cutting Up Jackpots” column to tell us about “The Great Lester -- Ventriloquist,” the man with the magic voices.

In his “Ways & Means” column, Joe Turner brings us “Bite by Bite” by Mark Tirone, using the common item of chewing gum. Jean-Emmanuel Franzis turns over his “Numismagic” column over to Mario Lopez, who brings us “The New Age Ambitious Coin.” In his column “Simple Diversions,” Andrew Woo explains “Card to Anywhere Made Simple.” Jeff Prace went to Europe to bring us guest Andi Gladwin’s “Voicemail Prediction” in the column “The Expert at the Tech Table.” And Chris Beason explains the clever “Mute” in his column “Situationally Yours.” Get out your Bic pen and do this one.

Hocus in Focus this month reviews ten new magic products, while the Broken Wand pays tribute to sixteen magicians who have died, and who we learned about since last month. There are seventy-nine Ring Reports this month. Do not skip these! They are packed with great ideas about what to do at your ring meetings, from lecturers and themes, to activities and fund-raisers.

A deep bow and a tip of ye ole Top Hat to Editor Sammy Smith and his staff for giving us another several hours of good magic-reading. But wait, we’re not finished. Don’t forget the advertisements.

ADVERTISEMENTS ARE A MUST-READ:

One of the most popular features of every issue of The Linking Ring are the advertisements, usually called just ads. Not only do they represent some of the latest products and services available to magicians, but they show support of the I.B.M. by those advertisers. We list them here to thank them for their support: